The militants showed off their military power as part of
their slick PR campaign - but rarely use their armoured vehicles because
they are an easy target

Armoured: ISIS released pictures of their devastating - but rarely used - weaponryISIS propagandists have released pictures of the sophisticated and
devastating weapons it wields as part of its campaign of terror across
the Middle East - including heavy TANKS.

The militants showed off
their military power as part of their slick PR campaign - but fail to
mention they rarely use their armoured vehicles because they are an easy
target for the warplanes of Russia, America, Britain and France.

They were featured on Terrormonitor's Twitter feed and were reportedly taken during fighting at Deir Ezzor military airport.

Britain, France, Russia and the United States provided most
of the weapons being used by ISIS to carry out appalling war crimes, a
new report claims.

As the UK joins its allies in carrying out
airstrikes in Syria, the Government has come in for renewed accusations
of having sown the seeds of conflict itself.A new study by
Amnesty International claims much of the weaponry used by Islamic State
(IS) fighters was supplied by the same Western powers now trying to bomb
it out of existence.

Firepower: ISIS proudly displayed their anti-aircraft weapon

Blast: A tank opens fire with its cannon

Huge supplies of guns, rifles, mortars and missiles have been
flowing into Iraq for years as the state struggled to retain control
after British and American forces withdrew.

Oliver Sprague,
Amnesty UK’s Arms Programme Director, said: "Decades of free-flowing
arms into Iraq meant that when IS took control of these areas, they were
like children in a sweetshop."The fact that countries including
the UK have ended up inadvertently arming IS, should give us pause over
current weapons deals.

Explosive: A militant opens fire with an rocket launcher

Warfare: The pictures were released by ISIS propagandists
"The UK was one of the key supporters of a global Arms Trade
Treaty, intended to prevent the proliferation of arms and their use in
horrific abuses like IS are committing."

"Risks need to be far
more carefully calculated, and we shouldn’t wait for this
worst-case-scenario to happen before acting to prevent sales of arms
which could fuel atrocities."Although Soviet Kalshnikovs are the
most commonly used, the oldest piece of kit in the IS arsenal is
believed to be a British World War One rifle.

Matt Cetti-Roberts/info@frontlinepictures.com

Guns: A Chinese-made Kalashnikov and American M4 rifle, the latter captured from ISIS militants
Mortars: ISIS fund their arms shipments through taxation and illicit oil sales
Amnesty says IS fighters acquired a windfall of
internationally manufactured arms after taking control of Mosul, Iraq’s
second largest city, in June, 2014.They included US-manufactured weapons and military vehicles which they then used to take control of other parts of the country.

Share

longwarjournal.org

Afghanistan: At least 40 Islamic State recruits can be seen in the Sheikh Jalaluddin training camp
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed at least six people
outside a Shi'ite mosque in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, according to
police and medical sources, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Seven
others were wounded in the attack, which took place in the mainly
Shi'ite Ubaidi neighbourhood of eastern Baghdad and targeted worshippers
leaving the mosque, police said.

"The suicide attacker was
trying to enter the mosque before a guard stopped him, but he blew
himself up," said one policeman near the scene of the attack.